Seven Tips to Help You to be on Time
by Marilyn Bohn

Description: Tips for giving yourself a little encouragement to get where you need to be on time.

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As I was coming home today on my morning walk I read a license plate cover that made me shake my head at with a little grin. It said "On Time Is When I Get There". Do you know people who are chronically late? It gripes me to have to wait for people who are late; it is such a waste of my time. I see it as a sign of disrespect and control.

We have a little joke in our home—we know we are a member of our family when we have to go back to get something three times after leaving the house. For instance: I need to get some water, I forgot my sun glasses, and I need to grab the thing I am returning, and so forth and so on. We have come up with the solution on how to actually leave at the time we want to leave:

• If we want to leave at 9:30 we say we have to leave at 9:20. It works every time (almost). We actually pull out of the drive way at the time we wanted to leave.
• I set my clocks 3 minutes ahead. I have chosen the number 3 because I am not sure if the clock could lose a minute or two so 3 is my 'magic' number. If I chose 5 it would be easy to say "oh, I have 5 minutes more".
• I think it is common courtesy to be on time so I prepare by have my purse ready, putting the things in the car ahead of time I know I will need when running errands—not waiting until it is time to leave to carry everything out.
• Resist answering the phone when I am on my way out the door. The answering machine will pick up the call and they can always call me on my cell phone.
• I set a timer to remind myself when it is time to get ready. We are all busy and we get involved with other things. Doing something this simple takes the stress out of my life.
• If you need to take paperwork or other things with you have them organized the night before and either put them in front of the door you are leaving by the next morning or in the car the night before.
• It does take some planning to be on time to appointments. Factor in the time it takes to get to the destination. There is traffic, construction, metered ramps, slow moving vehicles and emergencies to consider.

When my daughter was dating her husband to be he lived ten minutes from us. Invariably he was ten minutes late picking her up for dates which would irk her. She finally explained to him that he needed to leave earlier than he planned to be to our home. He had actually never thought that through. From then on he was on time as he didn't plan on leaving his place at the time he was to be at our place.

I do try to be on time but sometimes things happen and I am late. When that happens I call the person to let them know I am on my way and will be a few minutes late. It eases my mind and they appreciate it. I was reared with the idea that being on time is common courtesy and I still feel that way.

Marilyn is a creative organizer who helps women, seniors & their families to create space and end clutter in homes and offices by setting up custom made systems. Visit her website http://www.marilynbohn.com for free organizing tips.

Article Source: http://www.wahm-articles.com

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